Gerastanca crucigeracrucigera (Bradley, 1877)

That afternoon, I observed an uninhabited cobweb. Based on the spiderweb pattern, it probably belonged to an orb-weaver spider, I thought. I left it after taking the photo and looked for other objects to observe around me. But a moment later, filled with curiosity, I decided to return there.

The 'homeowner' has returned. Instead of an orb weaver, there was a spiny spider, Gerastanca crucigeracrucigera (Bradley, 1877). This is a species of spiny spider whose habitat is distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia, and New Guinea.

The spider's physical characteristics include a black head, an orange shell with black and spiny sides, and translucent orange legs. The pattern of this spider's web is very similar to the orb-weaver spider's web. So it's no surprise that, at first, I almost mistook it for the orb weaver's web.